Manuel Gives His All For Bradley`s Success

But do we really believe it? Try to teach this maxim to players learning basketball at the grammar-school and high-school level.

Anthony Manuel admits he didn`t always believe in passing the ball when he was growing up on Chicago`s West Side. The law of the playgrounds doesn`t consider passing a work of art, but rather an occasional necessity.

But now that Manuel, Bradley`s point guard, is second in the nation in assists with an average of 12 a game, he likes to say there`s more to the sport than scoring.

Senior guard Hersey Hawkins should set aside a stipend from his National Basketball Association salary next season to hand back to Manuel. The NCAA doesn`t have to know everything, does it?

Hawkins owes Manuel, a junior. Without him, he might not be leading the nation`s Division I scorers with a 36-point average, a statistic that will help Hawkins be selected high in the pro draft.

``I pass up some shots to give Hersey the ball,`` Manuel said.

He doesn`t mind doing that, he added, because Hawkins isn`t a ball hog.

``Hersey`s great. He never asks you for the ball,`` Manuel explained.

``If you shoot and don`t pass to him, he isn`t out there shouting, `Give me the ball next time.` You never hear that from him.``

You can`t talk to Manuel without Hawkins` name coming up. But the nationally ranked Braves are made up of more than Hawkins, who actually is the first to point that out. Maybe that`s why their record is 23-4.

``I think we`ll surprise some people in the NCAA tournament,`` Manuel said.

Bradley can get there without the assistance of the automatic bid that goes to the winner of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The tourney starts Saturday in Peoria`s Civic Center with regular-season champ Bradley playing Indiana State at 6:07 p.m. on ESPN.

The semifinals will be conducted Sunday, and the title decided Tuesday night.

Manuel will take the floor during the tournament knowing that his job is to make sure his teammates receive the ball in good position to score. It`s an assignment he had to learn as a freshman at Crane High School.

``Ken Norman was a senior when I was a freshman, and they definitely wanted me to get the ball inside to him,`` Manuel said, referring to the former Illinois star who is now with the Los Angeles Clippers in the NBA. ``So I developed a style, and it`s carried on.``

It has carried him to this superior season, during which he has stylishly set Bradley and MVC records with more than 300 assists and earned a second-team spot on the All-MVC team.

Still, Manuel can score. He averaged 23 points as a Crane senior and is contributing an average of 13 points a game this season. He`s a three-point threat when defenses group around Hawkins.

Manuel was glad to see the offensive changes the Braves made after Stan Albeck replaced Dick Versace as head coach two years ago.

``Versace was a great coach, but he liked us to pass the ball at least five or six times before we took a shot,`` Manuel said.

``I remember Albeck`s first practice with us. We kept passing the ball around before we shot, and he said, `Why are you doing that?` We said, `That`s the way we`ve been told to do it.` And he said: `Start shooting the ball. I don`t care if you`ve only made one pass, if there`s a good shot, take it.` I think that style of play has helped us.``

Isiah Thomas was Manuel`s idol when he was a boy, and he still remains his idea of the ultimate point guard.

``Me, playing like Isiah?`` Manuel responded when asked if he felt he`d come close this year to Thomas` skill level. ``I would never say that. Nobody can do some of the things he does.``

As a Bradley freshman, Manuel mostly sat and watched. That`s because senior guard Jim Les was starring at the position.

``He was conference player of the year that year, but I still think I should have played more,`` Manuel said.

Manuel had to overcome Albeck`s ire at one point last season. Albeck accused the 5-foot-11 inch Manual of being overweight during a team slump, and benched him.

``He was just making an example of me for the team,`` Manuel said.

``Maybe I`d gained a little weight, but it was no big thing. He just wanted someone to blame, and he chose me, I guess, because he knew I could take the heat. I lost the weight and got back out there.``

Manuel sees his relationship with Hawkins as a sharing one. ``I don`t take a backseat to Hersey,`` he said. ``He`s amazing, and we all try to play off whatever he does. But I think I can be pretty exciting in my own right.``